IJL – Press network – Acadie Nouvelle
Kent Regional Service Commission (KRSC) members and leaders of the Vitalité Health Network launched the Healthy Community Needs Assessment for the Kent region in late September.
According to Brigitte Sonier-Ferguson, senior vice president for performance, university mission and strategies at Vitalité, the health network has received a mandate from the government to determine the health needs of the populations it serves. For Vitalité, this represents 13 communities.
“The goal is clear, it is to bring together the stakeholders needed to advance health initiatives in the community and implement an action plan to improve the care and services offered to the entire population in Kent County,” said Brigitte Sonier. Ferguson.
“It’s a fairly rigorous process where each region is evaluated over a five-year cycle. This is an evaluation lasting about six months ”, informs the vice president.
To move forward, the Network is creating an advisory board made up of various community representatives.
“It’s an evaluation exercise where we do consultations, focus groups. Furthermore, we take this opportunity to raise awareness by demonstrating some existing data on the health of the population of this region, “says Brigitte Sonier-Ferguson.
KRSC is delighted to collaborate with the Vitalité Health Network and community partners in the region.
“I thought it was good,” said KRSC president Pierrette Robichaud. There were a lot of people around the table, people who work in all areas of health. “
Now, it remains to be seen what the needs are in Kent. On this topic, KRSC has already come a long way by carrying out a comprehensive study on health care in the region. This study took place a few years ago when the Stella-Maris hospital emergency room was threatened with closure in February 2020.
“It taught us that there are good things in health, good programs. A good job is being done, acknowledges the president of the KRSC. He also taught us that there is a shortage in the region, including Rogersville. For example, when it comes to dialysis, it would be fun to do dialysis in Stella-Maris ”.
This service is offered at Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Center in Moncton and at Miramichi Hospital. For some patients in the region, this can be around an hour’s journey, one way.
“Also, at Ambulance New Brunswick, the service is not always available in rural areas. These are all such things that we have learned, ”admits the mayor of Rogersville.
“We had produced a good relationship, but it will be even deeper and will be conducted by Vitalité with people from the community, explains Pierrette Robichaud. The goal is to develop programs, treatments in which the community will also play a role.
One of the things the mayor has asked is to invite Horizon Health Network to the discussions.
“We, the Rogersville and Rexton Health Center, are under Horizon and the people of Rogersville go to Miramichi Hospital,” he points out.
A first meeting in relation to this evaluation will take place on Wednesday.
The Kent region will be the first to develop the prototype model called “learning community” in New Brunswick. This model invites community organizations to participate in the implementation of recommendations resulting from the community health needs assessment.
“The idea of being a student is that we are always in this mode of learning with our communities in terms of health,” adds Brigitte Sonier-Ferguson.
